Dems intent on taking GOP's northern front

While attention focuses on the presidential race, voters on Tuesday will answer another question of equal local import: whether the Democrats will continue their slow conquest of the formerly solid Republican north and northwest suburbs.

While attention focuses on the presidential race, voters on Tuesday will answer another question of equal local import: whether the Democrats will continue their slow conquest of the formerly solid Republican north and northwest suburbs.

Changing dynamics in the swath of real estate from Lake County west to the Fox Valley is a major reason why Illinois has become a reliable blue state in national politics, and helps explain why the Dems hold near unassailable margins in both the state House and Senate.

Should the Ds further beat the Rs in what ought to be their home base tomorrow--perhaps picking up a seat in Congress and three slots in the Illinois General Assembly--it will be that much harder for Republicans to recover from the impending rout of their U.S. Senate hopeful, Alan Keyes.

The frontline of this fight is in the 8th Congressional District, where veteran GOP incumbent Philip Crane of Wauconda faces what observers on both sides of the aisle call the fight of his political life from Democratic businesswoman Melissa Bean.

Republicans say Mr. Crane, 74, will pull it out because his district is mostly Republican. But with President George W. Bush not actively campaigning in the state and Mr. Keyes going nowhere except perhaps back to Maryland, the GOP has had to throw in the kitchen sink in an all-out rescue mission.

Ergo national Republican groups had to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars in last-minute TV time for Mr. Crane. And U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the Republican from nearby Yorkville, showed up personally on Sunday to emphasize what's at stake.

Should Ms. Bean, 42, win, the Dems likely will gird for a serious challenge to U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park, in the 2006 election. He represents the district just to the south and east. Republicans are fully aware of that, so don't be surprised if Mr. Crane gets lots of encouragement to retire soon--even if he does squeak through this election.

The Democrats also are trying to take out Rep. Elizabeth Coulson of Glenview, the only Republican left in the legislature who represents anything east of the Edens Expressway. She's being challenged by Democrat Michele Bromberg, and the question is whether GOP women will remain loyal to Ms. Coulson, who is pro-choice on abortion.

Farther north, in Lake County, GOP veteran Rep. Robert Churchill is trying to hold off Democrat Sharyn Elman. And northwest, in McHenry County, appointed GOP Sen. Pamela Althoff of McHenry faces a tier-one challenge from Democrat Patrick Ouimet.

One indication of how much is at stake in the latter race: both sides are airing local television ads, a hugely expensive move for a state senate district.

Some expanses are just not to be avoided, however. If the Grand Old Party can't stop the hemorrhaging in the fiscally conservative but socially moderate north and northwest suburbs, the Democrats are likely to be on top for a long, long time here.